Storm of Secrets

September 9, 2019
The approach of tropical storm Chantal propels the action of Marion’s gripping sequel to 2018’s House of Ashes. In Whale Rock Village, Mass., Cassie Mitchell postpones her wedding to former FBI agent Daniel Benjamin. While helping locals and tourists prepare for the storm, she finds a dead body in a dumpster. Meanwhile, three-year-old Lucas Kleister, the son of a wealthy tourist, goes missing. Opening her historic home to those stranded, Cassie soon realizes she may have the murder suspect and possible child abductor right under her roof. Amid the chaos of the storm, a strange woman is seen in Cassie’s family cemetery leaving flowers on the grave of an unidentified child known as the Barnacle Boy, who drowned in Cape Cod Bay decades earlier. The frantic search for Lucas opens up old wounds for the townspeople and brings to light startling connections among Cassie’s houseguests, the missing child, and the long ago mystery of the Barnacle Boy. Marion seamlessly weaves the multiple story threads together. Fans of tales of regional intrigue will be satisfied. Agent: Jill Grosjean, Jill Grosjean Literary.

September 15, 2019
The morning after a storm on Cape Cod, there's a missing child, a murdered man, and a myth in the background that may connect them. Instead of spending her wedding weekend getting dolled up and married to Daniel Benjamin, Cassandra Mitchell is playing hostess to the other folks in Whale Rock, all because of Tropical Storm Chantal. As one of the biggest storms the town has seen in years bears down, it cancels Cassie and Daniel's plans and leaves residents and tourists alike huddled together trying to wait out the weather. Not everyone appears to make it safely to the other side, as Cassie discovers when she finds the body of Lee Chambers stuffed into a dumpster, not a victim of nature but of human nature. Although Cassie's history of informally aiding in crime-solving (House of Ashes, 2018) makes her keenly interested in nosing around in Lee's death, she has more important mysteries on her mind. One of the Kleister family's children disappeared in the storm's mayhem, and everyone in town is looking for the boy, especially Daniel, who can draw on his skills as a former FBI agent. The missing child reminds Cassie of the anonymous grave of a child on her family property: The so-called Barnacle Boy was found at sea years before and buried without any idea who he was or who lost him. Cassie can't help wondering whether her ancestors Percy and Celeste are sending her signs about the boy's connection to the boy who went missing this weekend. Modern and historic mysteries collide in Marion's bittersweet storytelling.

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October 7, 2019

Cassie Mitchell is all set to marry her fiancé, Daniel Benjamin, at the Bluffs, an old Victorian mansion in Whale Rock, Cape Cod, an estate she inherited from her family. Unfortunately, a deadly storm is about to descend on the coast at the peak of tourist season, forcing the couple to postpone their wedding. Yet this turns out to be the least of Cassie's worries, as she finds the body of Lee Chambers, a known drug dealer, behind a dumpster at a local restaurant. Shortly thereafter, three-year-old Lucas Kleister goes missing. And all the while, Cassie receives cryptic, supernatural messages from her dead great-grandparents Percy and Celeste, pointing to something sinister surrounding the local legend of "Barnacle Boy," who vanished during a storm years before. Are the incidents related?

VERDICT Marion's strong second installment in this series (after House of Ashes) will draw in readers with a penchant for mysteries with a supernatural twist and great characters cast in a fascinating setting.--Bill Anderson, Scott Cty. P.L., Scottsburg, IN

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